‘Incredibly tough’ Cape Epic draws the best
CHALLENGING and exhilarating – the 12th Absa Cape Epic is certain to live up to mountainbikers’ expectations.
A number of the 1 200 national and international cyclists who participate in the world’s premier mountainbike stage race, will be stretched to their physical limits. From March 15 to 22, sport enthusiasts have to overcome seven stages, 739km and 16 000 metres of climbing.
Following a prologue in Cape Town, this year’s route leads riders from UCT via Oak Valley Wine Estate in Elgin, HTS Drostdy in Worcester and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Wellington to the finishing line at Meerendal Wine Estate.
Among participants in the cycle adventure is English talent Sally Bigham. “Iron Sally” has won the women’s category twice and trained intensively to receive her third gold medal with Bla a Klemencic. But her Slovenian partner picked up a knee injury in training. Bigham will be riding with Austrian Christina Kollmann, 27.
“This will be my first race with Christina, though we raced against each other a number of times last year in one-day events. It is a little bit tough for Christina because she had not planned or prepared for the Cape Epic, but we are excited about racing together.
“We are both 50kg to 52kg and we climb well, so we are looking forward to the stages with lots of climbing,” the 36year-old cyclist said.
The eight-day mountainbike stage race is the only one of its kind to be classed as hors catégorie (a French term used to designate a climb that is “beyond categorisation”, or an incredibly tough climb) by the Union Cycliste Internationale – which attracts professional and amateur riders like Bigham and Kollmann, who look forward to challenging themselves in Western Cape’s most picturesque landscapes.